Rice dishes

Leaf Wrap Rice

ssam-bap

Rice, ssamjang and fillings wrapped in lettuce or leafy greens.

Medium35 min3 servings🌶️★ 62Contains soyContains sesame

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History & culture

Ssambap is often linked to Korea’s wrap-and-share table culture, where lettuce, perilla, or cabbage leaves bundle rice with banchan. Tradition holds that eating with the hands at communal grills and farm meals reinforced togetherness. Regional ssam varieties appear at home dinners, barbecue restaurants, and holiday tables across the country. The form is widely cited as a living folk practice rather than a single invented recipe.

Servings

KCook

Ingredients & steps

Cook mode

Ingredients

Garlic
4 cloves
Pork belly
200 g
Lettuce leaves (for wraps)
1 head
Neutral cooking oil
1 tbsp
Green onion
Substitutescallion or spring onion
2 stalks
Perilla leaves (kkaennip)
Substitutemint or basil (different aroma)
10 leaves
Cooked rice
2 cups

Seasonings

Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
Substitutecoarse red pepper flakes (adjust heat)
1 tsp
Soy sauce
SubstituteTsuyu (diluted) 4 tsp (2 tsp per 1 tbsp) or Tamari 2 tbsp
2 tbsp
Toasted sesame oil
Substitutea small amount of olive oil (flavor differs)
1 tbsp
Ssamjang (wrap sauce)
Substitutegochujang + doenjang mix
3 tbsp

Steps

110 min
Slice pork belly and marinate briefly with soy sauce, garlic, and gochugaru.
- Pork belly
- Soy sauce
- Garlic
- Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
2High heat6 min
Pan-fry or grill pork until golden and cooked through.
- Pork belly
- Neutral cooking oil
31 min
Serve rice with lettuce and perilla leaves; wrap a bite of rice, pork, and ssamjang in a leaf.
- Cooked rice
- Lettuce leaves (for wraps)
- Perilla leaves (kkaennip)
- Ssamjang (wrap sauce)

Storage & reheating

Eat fresh; store cooked pork separately up to 2 days refrigerated.

Troubleshooting

⚠️ Wraps tear when rolling
→ Use larger lettuce leaves and do not overfill each wrap.
⚠️ Pork is too greasy
→ Score the fat and cook on medium heat to render excess fat.